Mary Anne Fidati Eggleston

1943 - 2019

Mary Anne Fidati Eggleston, 76, of Waverly, enjoyed great success in her life as a gifted entrepreneur, generous philanthropist and was a respected businesswoman in Northeast Pennsylvania for decades.

She worked tirelessly as a director/vice president at Pagnotti Enterprises and its subsidiary companies where she played an integral role in re-energizing and revitalizing the businesses that her grandfather, Louis Pagnotti Sr., founded in 1934. In addition, her entrepreneurial footprint lives on today in the water filtration industry at both Carbon Sales Inc. and the Unifilt Corp., where she was both a founder and corporate officer.

Born in Scranton on July 29, 1943, she was the daughter of the late F. Robert and Marie Pagnotti Fidati.

Mary Anne graduated from Marywood Seminary and attended Wheeling College, Wheeling, W.Va.

Mary Anne passed away Oct. 5 at Allied Skilled Nursing following a courageous battle with cancer.

Mary Anne was involved in a number of local organizations, sat on numerous boards and participated in philanthropic efforts throughout her life. A true pioneer, she was one of the first women to be admitted to the Westmoreland Club, Wilkes-Barre, and was a founding board member at the Luzerne Foundation. Mary Anne was a board member at King's College, where she was instrumental in the formation of the King's College Family Business Forum and also sat on the board at Friendship House. She was an original Everhart Museum board member when the community board was formed, played a significant part in the restoration of the mineral exhibit at the museum and was recognized as the honoree in 2015 at the Everhart Museum Summer Solstice event.

Mary Anne is survived by her son and daughter-in-law, Bubba and Tracy Eggleston, and her two grandchildren, Elle and Brett, around whom her world revolved. She is also survived by her sister, Judy Fidati Haudenschield, and Jeff Haudenschield and their two sons, David and Christopher. Judy truly considered Mary Anne to be both a sister and mother to her, as David and Christopher fondly thought of her more as their grandmother than as their aunt. They were her closest relatives living locally and were a primary reason she fought so hard to survive.

Even during her time at Allied, she still always looked forward to being a part of as many milestones as possible in the lives of her family and her businesses. She cherished her friends from near and far, and always loved sharing stories about the fun times she had enjoyed throughout her life with her cousins.

Strongly influenced by her grandfather, Louis Pagnotti Sr., and his larger than life personality, she was a dynamic woman who was determined in business, yet even incredibly more caring and sensitive in her family life. She had a realistic way of looking at the world and her intuitive ability to quickly judge people's characters was truly amazing and always spot-on. Some of her greatest pleasures were her time with family, gourmet cooking, reading the Sunday edition of The New York Times and watching college and professional football. She was an avid Penn State fan.

We appreciate the superior efforts of the staff at Allied Services and of her caregivers, Kathy, Keith and Melissa, who offered personal attention, compassion and love to Mary Anne over the last few years.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Mary Anne's honor to Project Koru at https://secure.givelively.org/donate/project-koru/mary-anne-eggleston-memorial, the Everhart Museum, The Fund for Luzerne County at The Luzerne Foundation, or a charity of your choice.

Please join us in a celebration of Mary Anne's life to be held at 10 a.m. Saturday at Glenmaura National Golf Club, 100 Glenmaura National Blvd., Moosic.

Arrangements have been entrusted to Lawrence E. Young Funeral Home and Cremation Services Inc.